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The 120-year-old tree in Plymstock has had a protection order on it since 2005, meaning it cannot be cut down, topped, lopped, uprooted or wilfully damaged or destructed without local authority permission, reports The Herald .

Mr Miller alleges that a parks services' tree officer has verbally agreed to prune the tree three times in 12 years, but has not done so. He also says the tree is dying now and he wants it removed.

"The tree is very gradually dying of honey fungus and bark disease and there is a big crack in the bark up to a large intersection," he said.

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Mr Miller says he has posted an estimation for costs of broken slates on his roof to the council and is awaiting a response.

The council says the issue is now a legal matter.

A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said: "This matter is subject to an ongoing legal claim and we will not be commenting at this point."

In 2005 Mr Miller raised objections to the tree and its preservation order, but council officers defended it.

Council officer Chris Knapman said at the time: “It is considered that the objections raised are matters of routine property maintenance and not significant when compared to the wider public benefits that the tree provides. It is therefore recommended that the order is confirmed without modification.”

A report, which went before the council's planning committee on August 31 that year, said that there was no proof that the tree’s roots were penetrating the house foundations, or that the slates were broken as a result of the tree.